Marvin Sparks

Hey guys and gals, I'm back with the sixth episode of the popular series FlashBack Friday (click for previous episodes) for the year like 2011. This one's slightly different to the others. Not sure if it's holiday blues, but I've been tracing back songs that remind me of time spent in Jamaica. Jamaica is the land of reggae and dancehall , I don't take pictures, so naturally those songs remind me of my time. So, I've decided to document them all here. Bit of a personal one, so you may or may not enjoy it. Something I will deffo look back on in years to come to remember happy times. You'll have to guess the years. p.s. you get the "Yard Times" play on words from "Hard Times"? Genius. It's far from hard times, truss me To start you off nice and easy, these are my earliest memory of reggae. Before my first trip to Jamaica but I'm documenting them too Lovingdeer - Wild Gilbert Audio in the video is poor so here's a better quality v...

I only found this out today via Wikipedia. I was reading about Eve, it says she featured on Gwen Stefani's "Rich Girl" and mentions it's a remake of an old song. It's obviously reggae-inspired, but I thought that was it. Gwen Stafani ft. Eve - Rich Girl Well, originally, the melody for the chorus comes from musical Fiddler on the Roof, song titled "If I Were A Rich Man" But who knew, the concept for Gwen Stefani's song is so explicitly lifted from Londoners Louchie Lou & Michie One? Louchie Lou & Michie One - Rich Girl I didn't even know the above song before today. I knew the dynamic duo (lol) for "Shout" which peaked at #7 in the national UK charts. Yes, that is the same riddim track as Shaggy's "Oh Carolina". I beg you watch their performance on TOTP (Top of the Pops) if you get the chance Yo, I'm gonna run some Louchie Lou & Michie One for old times sake Somebody Else's Guy Louchie Lou may not be th...

Just in "Reggae artist Jah Cure has had his Mobo nomination for best reggae act withdrawn, after organisers found out he was a convicted rapist. The 33-year-old was given a prison sentence in 1999 for a gunpoint assault in Jamaica. Jah Cure, whose real name is Siccature Alcock, was released in 2007. Mobo organisers said they made the decision after finding about about the "severity of the crime" ahead of the ceremony in Glasgow in October. The move leaves just four remaining nominees in the best reggae act category - Damian Marley & Nas, Alborosie, Khago and Mavado. It's not the first time a reggae act has been dropped from the awards. In 2004 Vybz Kartel and Elephant Man were both removed from the category after they refused to apologise for homophobic lyrics. Jason Derulo and Alesha Dixon will host this year's ceremony, which recognises music of black origin such as R&B, jazz and hip hop. The Mobos, now in their 16th year, take place in Glasgow on 5 Oct...

Kes the Band - Wotless The Heatwave been banging this since near the beginning of the year. Trini soca vibes. Groovy tune. Was one of my tips for carnival, but I didn't do a post for that. Couldn't be arsed. Angel ft. Sneakbo - Ride Out This is probably my favourite r&b song from the UK this year. Taken over Nathan ft. Wretch 32 - Hangover. Has a credible r&b vibe with pop appeal. Best song I've heard by Angel. Swear I saw the lead girl from the video working guestlist at west end club Diu on Saturday. If that was you, hi. KOF - What's The Deal? (d&b remix) Heard this on Sian Anderson's Emotional Wheelage show on Rinse. Don't really care that it's two years old, it's a tchyoooooooon. Zone out and buss a skank during the verse then singalong to the chorus. That's what I do anyway. Meek Mill ft. Rick Ross - I'm A Boss I like this song, yeah, but you can't both be a boss now can ya? 'Cos at least one of you is an employee. I like...

Big Ship sailing! If you don't know the name, you may have skanked to his riddims/songs. Kartel "Bicycle", "Come Breed Me", MR. Vegas "Gallis", Busy Signal "Stamma", Mavado "Hope & Pray", "House Cleaning" , "Weh Dem A Do", "Stulla" + "Peppa" and many more. This is the radio edit. Longer version soon The Wrap Up’s Marvin Sparks ventures down to the Big Ship studios in Kingston, Jamaica to speak with Stephen McGregor about kick-starting Mavado's international career whilst still in high school, working with Estelle, Ne-Yo and much more... Dubbed "Di Genius" for his understanding and ability to produce music from a young age, McGregor has been creating music for over a decade despite only being 21 years old. Although he is better known for producing hits, he started out in the booth recording songs like ‘School Done Rule’ at the tender age of 9. As the son of the legendary...

I'm a music man that loves to find new music. One of the ways I do this is by tracing samples. Usually leads me to some soul or disco artist I wasn't to familiar with. Good way to get new old music. I love stuff with live instruments so this method usually brings results. If you like samples, you can check my other posts here . And yes, I said "Chase the Sample" instead of "trace" because I'm chasing them. Feening! Listening to the radio the other day (as I still do), they played a song that uses a samples I recognised from another song. Decided to Google it to find the original (as you do) and voila. Willie Hutch is the man. Haven't heard much of this guy, not familiar with his name, so thought I'd research him. He has been sampled a fair few times so I thought I'd do a post dedicated to him. The song that spawned this: Willie Hutch - "Brother's Gonna Work It Out" The closest I've seen to a vibrant danceflo...

Hey guys and gals, I'm back with the fifth episode of the popular series FlashBack Friday (click for previous episodes) for the year like 2011. I love doing these posts as I get to relive a time when life was all about not doing homework, watching cartoons, asking mum and dad for toys and what I would be when I grew up. These are songs you'll probably be surprised I, a staunch reggae addict, listens to in my spare time. As mentioned many times previously, I don't care how many stripes you wanna take from me, I have enough stripes to donate to a Zebra in need. I love cheesy pop music. They used very soft electro sounds in the '80s and '90s which gave the instant impression of inoffensive cheesy pop, but when you listen behind the actual sounds they use, the chord progressions and arrangements are cool. Lyrics were light-hearted, but so what? p.s. I'm going through a phase of listening to '80s and '90s pop. For more reasons than one Let's beg...